Past editions from this year: one two three four five six
This might be the last one of these for a while, depending on how much time Lucha Underground takes up.
Keyra vs Princesa Azul
(Mexa Wrestling @ Arena San Juan Pantitlan on 03/24, 11:51, good, via Carxyus)
This is the first I’ve seen of Princesa Azul. Keyra almost makes it the last I’ve seen of Princesa Azul, with a head smashing dropkick. Azul is model thin, obviously green, and completely unknown to this audience, so she’s got no chance of winning over most of the crowd against the destroyer of worlds. She does show some promise, willing to do a lot of flying for a luchador and it looking relatively good for her experience level. She’s just so small that the impact moves lack a lot of impact; only a late La Rosa really convinces the crowd of anything. There’s enough promise that Azul might be something a while from now if she survives, and Keyra makes it entertaining enough in the meantime.
Arez & Low Rider vs Harayuki & Mr. Iguana
(Martinez @ 4ever Soccer Indoor Arena, Fort Worth, Texas on 03/25, 14:50, good, via Scott Vodrey)
A fun match between two familiar teams with lots of ideas. (Harayuki is ‘new’, but sure looks an awful lot like a Japones del Mal member with his mask on.) Iguana sneaking under the ring to set up his dive was cool. Douki’s back suplex barrage was fun, and the back and forth he and Arez had before it worked well. If there’s a major flaw in this match, it’s many fun sequences but not really a lot connecting them all together in the flow of the match, and the match just sort of suddenly ends with no build to that moment. I’d like to see the two teams do this match again though.
Dr. Cerebro vs Ricky Marvin hair vs hair
(IWRG @ Arena Naucalpan on 03/25, 13:17, good, via +LuchaTV)
Marvin/Cerebro was a solidly worked match that just fell short of what I was expecting. It finished in very nontraditional fashion for someone’s who watched way too much CMLL: Dr. Cerbero took half of the third fall all on offense, Marvin blocked a move into the dragon screw and the knee bar, then Marvin took the second half of the fall and won. No comeback, no back and forth, Ricky just kept doing moves until he had done enough moves. I wanted more from these two for a hair match and this didn’t feel like a huge step up from what they’d been doing in the lead up matches. It wasn’t bad by any means, it just definitely left me wanting.
LA Park vs The King
(The Crash @ Auditorio de Tijuana on 04/14, 24:48, good, via VL300)
I assumed this was going to be a Park walk and brawl + his greatest hits back in the ring. Instead, he gave Fenix a lot of room and let him show off a lot and look competitive. I’d go as far as saying Fenix looked dominant in sections, which never happens in Park matches. I wasn’t expecting Park to go up for a German suplex. This was almost like US Indie luchador Parka compared to his Rush work, with lots of big bumps and near falls. That has it doesn’t sides; I really hated the martinete spot, and it really took me out of the match. The standard La Parka silliness was fine, I just can’t handle a death move in Tijuana being treated like nothing. It’s one spot in a pretty good match and I just can’t see pass it.
Rey Horuz vs The King (Rey Fenix) vs El Bandido vs Flamita
(The Crash @ Palenque del Fex on 04/15, 9:50, good, via VL300)
There’s no sound on the video file for this match, which is on a random channel (which now appears to be semi-official The Crash video channel again.) There’s also obvious edits, though that might have been due to other fans drifting in the way of the camera one time. If this was match was presented in a professional way instead, I think this match would be talked about as the same level as the Fantasma/Pentagon/Fenix/Hijo del Octagon (Flamita) four way from years ago. It’s got the same kind of frantic action, only Flamita & Fenix are definitely better now. Everything we get to see is sharp and fast moving, with people coming in and out all the time. Fenix comes off as the best guy in the match, though not by much. Bandido was always good but has improved so much working with better and different guys in the last year; there’s things he wasn’t even trying before that he can pull off flawlessly, and he can build a sequence a lot better. The legacy of The Crash, at least this era of it, is really great matches with less than a 1000 views on YouTube.
Valiente & Volador Jr. © vs Cavernario & Negro Casas for the CMLL World Tag Team Championship
(CMLL @ Arena Coliseo Guadalajara on 04/17, 15:52, ok, via thecubsfan)
A disappointingly average match for about two and half falls, which finally gets out of the first couple gears after the técnicos dives in the third fall. It’s actually really good once it finally gets there but they’re also killing so much time in front of a crowd that’s more interested at chanting each other than the match. My problem with my dumb rating system is I think this match is watchable for people who watch everything, but the last two matches I’ve rated good are clearly and better than this. I’d guess it’s OK, or better than this system.
Anyone else here just a bit concerned about the danger with all these spots involving the ring ropes? With Hijo del Perro Aguayo’s death, I would think those spots would be very limited or eliminated altogether. I like some good in-ring action, but I’d hate to see another tragedy like the one we saw a few years ago.